Chapter 86: Education

Lu An pulled a long face and gritted his teeth.

"What's going on? Are you all right?" Lin Xiu'er asked with concern.

Lu An said unhappily, "It's my mother. She advised me to do corvee labor. I know I've just lost my job, but I cannot believe mother has the nerve to ask me to risk my life! we are not as well-off as before, but we are not that poor, I'm sure we can afford the exemption fee, it's just one tale of silver!"

"Mother is too biased towards Cheng Yu."

Lu An said exasperatedly, "Yeah! She spent dozens of taels for Cheng Yu's wedding. She didn't even blink her eyes when Cheng Yu offered Li Fang Yue 30 taels as betrothal present, but now she's asking me to risk my life for one tael of silver."

Lin Xiu'er was a bit depressed. After Lu An lost his job, Tang and Grandma Lu often ganged up and hurled insults at her, saying that she should be more observant and stop Lu An from taking bribes, and Lin Xiu'er was always reduced to silence.

"Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu love Lu Cheng Yu the most!" Lin Xiu'er couldn't help but complain.

Lin Xiu'er didn't feel that way until recently.

"Who is Lu Lin working for? Many people in the village now rely on him to make a living, so the villagers are all speaking highly of him," Lin Xiu'er said bitterly.

Currently, many people in the village relied on selling embroidery products to make money for Sino Commercial House. Lin Xiu'er made some embroidery in private and secretly sold it to Sino Commercial House.

Lin Xiu'er used to look down on Lu Lin, but now she had to rely on Lu Lin to make money.

If it were not for the fact that she had no choice, Lin Xiu'er would never have done this.

Lu An said sullenly, "Who knows?"

Lu An knew that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were working in town for a long time. When he didn't lose his job, people in the village liked to visit him when they went to town, so he had heard that Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi were doing great in town. In the past, Lu An thought that they were juniors in the family, so he was too proud to show any interest when the villagers brought that up.

"I heard that many people in Big Gulf Village are making dried sweet potato chips and sell them in Sino Commercial Shop. Lu Lin will take some cut for every bag of chips sold, the chips are not expensive, but economy in trifles ensures abundance! That Lu Lin really has the knack of making money!"

Lu An's face darkened and he said, "Alright, alright, stop talking."

Lu An lost his job and hated hearing people praising Lu Lin of being capable.

......

Lu Lin hid in the house, thinking about making some new styles of dolls.

Lu Lin originally thought that the matter of corvee could be settled with one tael silver. But now people in the village thought that he was a rich man, a lot of them were coming to him to borrow money.

Now Lu Lin started to understand the old saying 'Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs.'

A group of people would rattle on and on, asking whether they could borrow several hundred cents from Lu Lin.

For Lu Lin, this amount of money was really nothing, but this did not mean that he was willing to be a sucker!

What was more, once he set a precedent and lent money to one person, it would be even more difficult to refuse the people who visited him afterwards. It would cause more trouble if he helped villagers selectively.

Lu Lin decided to just hide in his room and not receive any guest.

Granny Shen sighed as she saw Lu Lin had to hide in his room to avoid the nuisance. She had been meaning to go back to the village for her veggie patch, but when she heard about the corvee, she changed her mind.

Granny Shen knew that in the eyes of the villagers, she was fortunate. If she didn't lend them money, her reputation would be ruined. So the best way was to hide in town just like Lu Lin.

......

The autumn rain fell day after day without ceasing. And after that, winter finally arrived.

Chen Xiao Mi sat on the bed and said, "The people in town really know how to enjoy life!"

When Chen Xiao Mi lived in the village, he used burn firewood to keep warm. And now he was using charcoal fire like other townsfolk. The difference was firewood was free and charcoal was not. But charcoal fire and a stove made winter cozier. Chen Xiao Mi looked at the stove and felt so happy, he had no idea winter could be this cozy and enjoyable until now.

Lu Lin walked in and said, "It gets cold overnight!"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yeah! During this period of time, the store's business seemed to be a bit sluggish."

Lu Lin crossed his arms and said, "Maybe because the weather is cold, no one likes to go out on such bitter days."

In this time and space, winter could be very dangerous for a lot of people. If someone accidentally caught a cold, the treatment would cost a lot of money, and there was a high risk that the patient couldn't survive the cold. Therefore, people would generally avoid going out in winter, especially poor people.

Lin Xiu'er gave birth to a son recently. Villagers preferred boys to girls. Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu were happy to have one more grandson, but this newborn wasn't the first grandson in the family, so they were that thrilled.

Tang had high hopes for Li Fang Yue's belly, she hoped it was a boy, not a girl.

Tang had been nice to Li Fang Yue recently and Li Fang Yue knew it very well that Tang was nice to the baby instead of herself. Li Fang Yue felt so stressed after Lin Xiu'er had a son.

Grandma Lu had high expectations for Li Fang Yue, for the baby in her belly was Grandma Lu's first great grandkid. After Li Fang Yue was pregnant, Grandma Lu gave her so much foods or medicines of highly nutritious value. But all those foods and medicines had backfired, the baby was oversized, and Li Fang Yue suffered a difficult labor. Li Fang Yue endured great pain for a day and a night, and she gave birth to a girl.

Grandma Lu's face darkened as she saw it was a girl.

Tang was also greatly disappointed. Lu Cheng Yu was not very young, a lot of his peers had sons already. Tang yearned for a grandson!

Lu Cheng Yu preferred a boy too. After his daughter was born, he only glanced at her, he didn't even hold her.

Li Fang Yue was not happy that it was a girl, but she loved her baby no matter what.

......

Chen Xiao Mi asked casually as he nibbled on the sweet potato chips, "Li Fang Yue gave birth to a girl, have you heard that?"

"Lu Cheng Yu must be disappointed," Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mi blinked and said, "I agree."

"However, Lu Cheng Yu and Li Fang Yue are still young, I'm sure they can have a son sooner or later, I also heard the baby girl is very chubby and cute. But Li Fang Yue has gotten very fat, I'm worried for her."

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at his belly and then he asked Lu Lin, "Do you like a boy or a girl?"

Lu Lin smiled and said, "I like both." As a modern person, Lu Lin didn't care much about the gender of the baby. Lu Lin was gay in his previous life and he never thought of having children. Lu Lin was already very happy and grateful that he was able to have a baby in this time and space.

Chen Xiao Mi pouted, thinking that Lu Lin must prefer a boy.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mi's face and said, "I'm telling the truth. I love our baby no matter it's a boy or a girl."

Chen Xiao Mi looked at Lu Lin and nodded.

......

In Lunar November, Lu Lin asked Chen Xiao Cai to close the store and came back to Forest Town for the Chinese New Year.

The doll business was not as hot as it was first launched, but the shop could still make a few sales per day. Chen Xiao Cai was a little reluctant to close the store for a few days, but he thought that it had been a long time since he saw his brothers and Lu Lin he really missed them.

Chen Xiao Cai put out a sign saying that he was going to close the store for a few days, which made some residents in the town anxious. Many people were worried that they wouldn't be able to buy dolls as presents for Chinese New Year, so they rushed to purchase a few. As a result, Cai made 30 taels within a few days.

The moment Chen Xiao Cai came back, Chen Xiao Mai jumped for joy.

Chen Xiao Mai threw himself at Cai and howled for a long time. Lu Lin looked at the Mai and thought for himself that there was a wolf trapped in Mai's tiny body.

Lu Lin gave Qin Yi and Qin Lang's wages to their father Qin Yi, he gave Qin Yi three tales extra to thank him for his hard work in Forest Town. Qin Yi was so flattered.

"Master Lin, I do have a question, can our family live in this property for winter? Will the owner of this house have any objections?" Qin Yi asked nervously.

Lu Lin said that the owner of the property wouldn't be back for a long time and it wouldn't be a problem for them to stay for winter.

Qin Yi was relieved after hearing this.

Qin Yi did not want to go back to the mountain for winter. Winter was a battle for mountain people, he didn't want his kids to endure the piercing wind and bitter cold.

When Granny Shen saw Shen Chi come back, she got so emotional. They had talked so much in the room.

......

Chen Xiao Cai entered his room and saw a pile of books, writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones on the desk. He was confused.

"Lin Gege, what are these for?" Chen Xiao Cai asked.

Lu Lin said proudly, "I bought them for you."

Chen Xiao Cai was confused, "Why are you buying these for me? I have no interested in attending the imperial examination!" He wanted to be a big boss in the future and make a lot of money.

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Cai and pretended he was a bit disappointed, "Why are you so unmotivated, child?"

Chen Xiao Cai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Lin Ge, why don't you show me how it's done! You can enroll in the school and study hard for a few years, maybe you can become a scholar!"

Lu Lin, "Cai, are you making fun of me? You sure got the gift of gab."

Lu Lin had read books in this time and space. They were all written in traditional Chinese character, quite different from the simplified Chinese character that he had learned in modern society.

Lu Lin felt that he was able to read and write if he put in time and energy. But he was not confident that he could master the classical style of writing in this time and space. And people here all used writing brushes, but he struggled a lot with writing brushes, his calligraphy was a bit unpresentable.

"Cai, I know my strengths and weaknesses, my talent is limited. But you are still young, you can do it!" Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Cai was confused. " Lin Ge, it's useless for you to buy this stuff for me! No school is willing to take me."

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Cai and said, "Don't worry. We have money now, I'm sure I can find a scholar for you. All jokes aside, Cai, no pressure, I'm not forcing you to attend the imperial examination, I just want you to get educated, Chi can learn together with you."

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Thank you, Lin Gege!"

In Chen Xiao Cai's eyes, people who could read and write were extraordinary people. Chen Xiao Mi wanted to send Chen Xiao Cai to a school before, but no school was willing to accept him. Chen Xiao Cai said that he didn't care. In fact, he was a bit hurt.

Lu Lin prepared study materials for both Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi. Granny Shen was touched again.

Getting education was very expensive in this time and space, the idea 'lack of talent in a woman is a virtue' prevailed. Therefore, women and Bios from regular families didn't get to get education.

Shen Chi was very excited about getting education together with Chen Xiao Cai.

Lu Lin found a fifty-year-old Tongsheng to teach them. This Tongsheng opened a home school in his village to impart rudimentary knowledge to country kids.

Lu Lin didn't have high requirements for the old Tongsheng, he just wanted Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi to be able to read and write.

Lu Lin only bought study materials for Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi, but he told the rest of the children at home that if they wanted to attend the class, it was fine.

Mai had zero interest in studying. The Qin brothers were curious at first, and they also went to listen for a while, but later they were not interested.

Lu Lin held a book in his hand, which was densely marked with notes by pinyin. (T/N: Pinyin is the official romanization system for Chinese, it was developed in the 1950s, so ancient people have no idea what it is.)

Lu Lin asked the teacher to read through a few articles and he marked the articles with pinyin, soon Lu Lin was able to read through the articles as well.

Chen Xiao Mi had no idea what pinyin was. He felt this pinyin system very magical.